Happy Friday artists, art lovers, and parents of creative kids and teens! Welcome to Art Club: Sparketh’s weekly round-up of the latest in art news, creative resources, trending art challenges (and more.) If you love the arts and creativity, you’re in the right place.
Today, we’re sharing about an amazingly talented 10 year old artist and an upcoming art challenge/contest for kids and teens! We’re also uncovering some spooky hints left by the ancient Egyptians about a long-long mummy! Lastly, you’ll find some viral (and adorable) TikTok drawing tutorials to get your October started out right.
Art News: Andres Valencia is THE Art Prodigy to Watch
A lot of young boys like Pokemon and G.I. Joe, and Andres Valencia is no exception. He is also a prodigious 10 year old artist whose pieces have sold for over $100K per creation.
In a very short time, Valencia has become a key artist to watch. Andres started selling his artwork professionally last December. According to Smithsonian Magazine, he was the youngest ever artist to show at Art Miami, and has since attracted celebrity buyers such as: Jordan Belfort, Brooke Shields, Channing Tatum and Sofía Vergara.
As recently as June, Adres had a solo exhibition at the Chase Contemporary gallery in SoHo. All 35 of the artist’s works were sold, each between $50,000 and $125,000 (per The New York Times.)
Artistic Influences:
Andres’ Cubist style is inspired by legends such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, George Condo, and Picasso….as well as Pokemon and his favorite, Click N’ Play army action figures. You can see some of his pieces in the video below!
Words of wisdom:
I love this young artist’s attitude in terms of creation. He told The New York Post: “I paint in little pieces. I work on it for an hour or two. Then I go do something else. I come back to it the next day and keep adding more.”
What a great attitude for all artists and creatives to remember! It can be easy to give overwhelmed by large creative projects, but you can do amazing things in just an hour per day!
Follow this artist on Instagram:
Keep up with this artist’s work by following him on Instagram here.
Art Contest: “Sparktober” is a month-wide art challenge for kids and teens!
At Sparketh, we’re gearing up for one of our most popular annual art contests -Sparktober- taking place throughout the month of October! In the Sparketh Community, we sponsor several art contests per year, but one of the reasons Sparktober is so much fun is that it’s a daily art prompt challenge + contest, too!
How it works:
Each day of October, there is a one-word art prompt for artists to take as inspiration and translate any way they want into art. Any medium and all levels of detail are welcome! Every day (or at the end of the month) artists can share their work with our online art community!
For kids and teens who are 18 and under, the creative challenge is also an art contest! At the end of the month, one young artist will be chosen to receive a $100 gift card to an art supply store of his or her choice!
Here are the prompts for October 1-October 31!
How to Enter:
To participate in the challenge, join the Sparketh Community (link here) and start creating and submitting for the daily prompts in October! While the contest/prize is only for those 18 and under, we hope that artists of all ages will join in on this month of creativity!
Art News: Ancient Hieroglyphics Contain Clues to a Famously Lost Tomb?
The Egyptians were ahead of their time in many ways, including their advancement in art and art preservation. Art was part of their daily life: their means of recording events, worshipping their gods and rulers, and honoring their dead. Egypt has given us some of the oldest, and best-preserved art of the ancient world.
When many people think of ancient Egyptian artwork, they envision the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti. This priceless work of art is a life-size bust dating back to 1351–1334 BC. It’s remarkable for several reasons: it’s stunning in both its quality and preservation, and it shows us a rare, realistic image of the famously beautiful queen.
Nefertiti Bust, Egypt, Tell el-Amarna, New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, ca. 1351–1334 BC
A prominent Egyptologist, Nicholas Reeves, believes he may have found clues to the hidden location of Queen Nefertiti’s long-lost mummy. He believes that these clues are hidden within hieroglyphics found in King Tut’s tomb. (King Tut was the famed child-pharaoh and step-son of Nefertiti.)
Reeves says a pattern in the hieroglyphics may hold the key to finally locating the queen. The cartouches- carved oval tablets in the hieroglyphics – show King Tut being buried by Ay, his successor. Further investigation revealed that these had been painted over other cartouches that showed Tutankhamen burying Nefertiti (from the Guardian.)
Reeves believes that these depictions would not have been included as mere decoration, but have more to do with the location of Nefertiti’s tomb. Therefore, is possible that archeologists may be able to use these ancient clues to locate the lost mummy of Nefertiti.
I’m hoping this means we can soon learn more about this famous queen and life of ancient Egyptians! How about you?
Read more on this story here.
Art Ideas: Learn How to Draw All the “Cute Fall Things” on TikTok!
Sometimes you just need to draw something simple, fun and…well, cute! Today’s featured TikTok artist has created a fall-themed series that will inspire you to doodle every day of autumn! The below video shows a quick and easy way to draw an adorable fox cartoon in less than a minute! I don’t know about you, but I always have trouble with foxes. (They either come out looking like a cat or a dog).
As you can see on the page, there are plenty of other doodle ideas to learn from this series! Give @planwithines a follow on TikTok for daily art ideas this season!
@planwithines Replying to @eddemongirl a ~loose~ interpretation but still an easy way to draw a Fox 🦊🧡✨ #bujo #art #artinspo #bujoinspo #fallart #falldiy #halloween #halloweendiy #homeinspo #fox #foxes #drawing #easydrawing #tutorial #drawingtutorial #howtodraw
A prodigious artist who creates an hour a day, the Sparktober daily art challenge, the ancient Egyptians who worked art into every part of life, and fun daily doodles of cute fall things…I’m sensing a theme here!
While this wasn’t deliberate, I think it’s a good reminder that creativity happens with consistency. As creatives, we may not always feel inspired. However, the best work happens when we put in time and effort, every day! I hope that was a good reminder for you, too (it was for me!) Stay creative and consistent, readers! See you back here for next week’s Art Club!